Washington, DC – Various organizations reiterated their opposition to the the United States Supreme Court’s ruling allowing the Trump Administration to enforce the Muslim travel ban while legal challenges proceed in lower courts.

Expressing disappointment on the decision, South Asian Bar Association of North America (SABA), a voluntary bar organization in the US and Canada, argued that from many statements made by President Donald Trump, “We know that these restrictions (on travel) are tied to religion despite the inclusion of two countries without Muslim majorities.”

“Casting suspicion on people simply based on their religion is shameful, and more importantly, contradicts the basic principles of our country,” the SABA statement noted.

“SABA will continue to stand against these efforts to discriminate against an entire group of people based solely on prejudice,” announced SABA President Rishi Bagga. “This 3rd version of the Muslim Ban will end as its predecessors did, and that the current administration will focus on security efforts based on facts and reason instead of fear and willful ignorance,” hoped Bagga.

“Outraged” by the SC decision, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) National President Monica Thammarath cautioned, “The reinstatement of the Muslim (travel) Ban is unacceptable at the highest level of our judiciary and will have disastrous consequences on our nation’s values and moral fabric.”

Noting that six of the eight countries in this third iteration are Muslim majority countries, Thammarath said, “In a time where communities of color, immigrants, and refugees are under attack, we must redefine the narrative of security in this country.”

“As an Asian American and Pacific Islander community, we understand the pain of xenophobia – from heightened surveillance of Muslim- or perceived-to-be-Muslim communities after 9/11 to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II,” the statement noted. Thammarath concluded, “The Supreme Court is letting history repeat itself — a stain that will go down in history during Trump’s white supremacist, right wing era.”

Earlier, the US Supreme Court allowed President Trump’s travel ban to take full effect pending appeal, for people coming from six Muslim-majority plus two countries. With this ruling from the apex court, the travel ban, which restricts travel to the US by people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad without bona fide connections to the US, is scheduled to take full effect while legal challenges proceed.